Ms Katrina Plastow

Katrina is a member of the academic staff of the School of Dentistry, teaching in both the BDS and BOH programmes. She has a background in public dental health working in the School Dental Service as a dental therapist and more recently in tertiary education.

Katrina is researching the impact of sugar intake on caries prevalence in children given widespread fluoride exposure.  It is well documented that dental caries is a diet related disease and that it is still a problem in Australian children. The effects of timing of sugar intake, in particular before bedtime, and whether there is a threshold of sugar consumption above which the beneficial effects of fluoride are negated is less clear. The aim of the study is to examine the relationship in Australian children between consumption of foods and drinks containing sugars in the hour before bedtime and their dental caries experience, by analysing data collected in the Child Oral Health Study. It will also examine any influence that lifetime fluoride exposure might have on this relationship.

email:katrina.plastow@adelaide.edu.au